1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical tone synthesizing apparatus suitable for simulating acoustic musical instruments.
2. Background Art
There are systems for synthesizing tones by simulating the sound generation mechanisms of acoustic musical instruments. For example, such an instrument is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,310. FIG. 11(A) shows a schematic system configuration of such a conventional musical tone synthesizing apparatus for simulating the sound generation mechanism of wind instruments. The apparatus primarily consists of two main blocks, a tone generation controller IF2 and a physical model circuit VOPM2.
The tone generation controller IF2 creates tone generation control data representing a blowing pressure P, an embouchure E, and a tone pitch data ST in accordance with the performance of a performer, and supplies the data to other elements in the apparatus. The configuration of the tone generation controller IF2 is similar to the acoustic musical instrument so that when the performer carries out a performance similar to that of the acoustic musical instrument, the above-described tone generation control data is created. Herein, the blowing pressure P is a signal designating a pressure due to the air flow, and the embouchure E is a signal designating the condition of the player's lips.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11(B), the tone generation controller IF2 supplies, to the reed part REED2, an initializing signal INIT for initial reset of the system.
The physical model circuit VOPM2 consists of two sub-blocks, the reed part REED2 and a bell part HORN2, which correspond to the structure of the acoustic wind instrument. The reed part REED2 simulates the reed vibration mechanisms of tile wind instrument by utilizing the blowing pressure E and the embouchure E as excitation signals. Then, as a result of the simulation, a pressure signal P2 is supplied to the bell part HORN2. The pressure signal P2 designates the pressure per unit area of the resonance tube, the pressure being due to the performer's breath (i.e., air flow ) passing through the space between the mouthpiece and the reed of the wind instrument. In this case, a characterized response of the system is determined so as to realize a non-linear function A shown in FIG. 11(C), for example.
The pressure signal P2, created in the reed part REED2, is then transferred to the bell part HORN2 as an excitation signal. The bell part HORN2 is a circuit for creating a musical tone signal by simulating the progressing system of the air pressure wave in the resonance tube. The bell part HORN2 comprises a junction JUNC (see FIG. 11(B)) for simulating a pressure scattering system at the end of the resonance tube which is adjoined to the mouth piece.
However, according to the above-described conventional apparatuses, because the part REED2 only receives two signals, a blowing pressure P1, which is a signal determined by the blowing pressure P and the output signal of the bell part HORN2, and the embouchure E, the musical tone is not affected by actions of the performer's tongue.
Meanwhile, there is known a performance technique for wind instruments, called "tonguing", which is executed by moving the tongue in order to apply important effects to the musical tone.